Method of making radiators



March 28, 1%? G. E. LA FORTE ET AL 3,310,86

METHOD OF MAKING RADIATORS Original Filed Nov. 27, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet l FIGI . INVENTORS' JOSEPH D. LEAR GERALD E. LG PORTE WILLIAM OWHITCHER ATTORNEY March 28, 1957 5, LA FORTE ET AL 3,310,859

METHOD OF MAKING RADIATORS Original Filed Nov. 27, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR5 JOSEPH D. LEAR GERALD E. Lu FORTE WILLIAM G. WHITCHER ATTORNEY Max-ch 28, 196? 5 LA FORTE ET AL 3,316,869

METHOD OF MAKING RADIATORS FIG. 5 36 F164 INVENTOR JOSEPH D. LEAR GERALD E. L0 PORTE WILLIAM C. WHITCHER ATTORNEY arch 28, 1967 5, 5, LA PQRTE ET AL 3,310,869

METHOD OF MAKING RADIATORS Original Filed Nov. 27, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. I?)

. l 7 LI U INVENTOR llIIIIHIIHII IHIHII" |IIH H HHHHH III Hll'lll'l JOSEPH D. LEAR I|||uunluummmlmnumuyumumllvt y E. WILLIAM QWHHCHER I50 30 I50 BY ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,310,869 METHOD 6F MAKING RADIATORS Gerald E. La Porte, Buffalo, Joseph D. Lear, Snyder, and William C. Whitcher, Kenmore, N.Y., assignors to Fedders Corporation, Edison, NJ.

Original application Nov. 27, 1963, Ser. No. 326,404, new Patent No. 3,246,691, dated Apr. 19, 1966. Divided and this application Oct. 20, 1965, Ser. No. 513,883

7 Claims. (Cl. 29157.3)

This application is a division of our co-pending application Ser. No. 326,404 filed Nov. 27, 1963 and now United States Patent No. 3,246,691, granted Apr. 19, 1966-.

This invention relates to improvements in the structure and method of manufacture of automotive radiators, car heaters, and similar heat exchange devices.

It is an object of the invention to improve the structural relationship of the components of a radiator so that it is more capable of withstanding the strains and vibration encountered on the road, and also able to resist higher internal pressure than current radiators. This has been accomplished by devising parts that are particularly adapted to both effective assembly operation and to mutual reinforcement after integration by soldering. This assembly concept in turn permits the integration of the entire structure in one soldering operation, thus obviating any necessity of reheating which heretofore has been widely accepted as necessary in radiator assembly, and which has long been recognized as the cause of weakened joint structures and the frequency of leaks encountered in service.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel assembly which permits a method of assembly resulting in speed and accuracy in line production. This objective is attained by devising the parts so that the assembly is selfjigging, and that during the process, exten'or aids such as carrying frames and the like areentirely eliminated, and the radiators may be baked under the most favorable conditions. The nature of these and other improvements and the advantages attached thereto, will be made apparent as this description proceeds and the novelty will be pointed out in the appended claims.

FIGURE 1 is an exploded perspective view of the radiator of the invention.

FIGURES 2 and 3 are front views of the radiator during successive stages in final assembly.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic view showing the radiator being conveyed through flux and heating operations.

FIGURE 8 is a section on the line 88 of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 9 is a diagrammatic view showing a method of forming and integrating the tank of the invention.

FIGURES 10 and 11 are enlarged sections on the line 1.9-1!) and 1111 of FIGURE 9.

FIGURE 12 is a cross-section through a tank having an interlocking joint.

FIGURE 13 is a diagrammatic top view of the strip of material of FIGURE 9 before the forming operation.

FIGURE 14 is a section on the line 14-14 of FIG- URE 9.

The radiator 9 of the invention as shown in its preassembled form in FIGURE 1, includes a core 10 of the cellular-tubular type having flat solder covered tubes. 11 and interposed zig-sagged fins 12 of familiar type. Top and bottom tanks 13 and 14, respectively, are formed with flat header areas 15 and 16, respectively, which areas 3,319,869 Patented Mar. 28, 1967 each contain two rows of flanged openings 15a and 160 which receive the ends of the tubes 11. Punched solder sheets are disposed over the tube ends before this assembly to afford a supply of solder for the tube to header joints in a later heating operation.

The tanks 13 and 14, except for the header areas 15 and 16, are preferably, although not necessarily, cylindrical in form, each having longitudinal joints, which joints may take the form of a butt braze 18 or an interlocking joint 19 (FIGURES 11 and 12, respectively). The open ends of the top tank receive a filler fitting cap 21 and an inlet fitting cap 22, while the ends of the bottom tank 14 receive an outlet fitting cap 23 and a sealing cap 24. The ends of the tanks 13 and 14 in the header area thereof are provided with integral depending lugs 13b and 14b, respectively, which serve in the assembly method which will presently be described. It will be observed that the fittings and caps enter the tanks internally with a snug fit and that additionally such members are formed with circumferential grooves 21a, 22a, 23a, 24a for receiving solder wire inserts 21b, 22b, 23b, 24b, which later will melt to provide interfitting joints with the tanks 13 and 14.

The projecting caps serve as trunnion-like mounts for sidewalls 25 (FIGURE 1) which are formed at their extremities 25a with flanged openings 26 and 26a which are adapted to be engaged over such caps with a relatively tight fit (FIGURES 5 and 6'). It will be observed that solder inserts or wires 27 are interposed between the ends of the tanks and the flanged openings 26', 26a. The body 28 of each sidewall is of flat channel formation having openings 29 for attachment of the radiator unit to suitable chassis members of an automobile. The junctures of the extremities 25a and the body 28 of each sidewall 25 are formed with a Z bend 31 which is pierced as indicated by the numeral 32 to receive the described lugs 13b or 14b of the tanks 13 and 14. Adjacent the openings 32 the body 28 contains struck out tabs 33 which may be forced down from the dotted position shown in FIGURE 6 to bend the underlying lugs and thus prevent their removal and displacement of the tanks 13 and 14 from the assembly.

It is proposed, as will be hereinafter more apparent, to integrate the above described assembly in a single heating to melt the solder sheets 20 and the various solder inserts so that upon cooling, all of the parts are efi'ectively joined.

In assembling the parts, the sidewall 25 serve as part of an assembly fixture, and, as shown in FIGURE 2, the fins and tubes in succession are stacked row upon row upon the base of one sidewall 25 to build up a core mass which otherwise is the customary procedure; The sec- 0nd sidewall 25 is then applied from the opposite side of the core, and, during this application, considerable pressure is applied to this sidewall to compress the core mass so that the tubes 11 are spaced to the desired center distance. This permits the tanks 13 and 14 to be entered upon the projecting ends of the tubes with suitable mechanical aids (FIGURE 3). It will be noted that as the tanks are pressed upon the tube ends that the lugs 13b and 14b formed from blank connectors 30 (FIGURE 13) thereof enter the slots 32 at the sidewalls. The lugs are subsequently bent over as shown in FIGURE 6 to prevent subsequent disassembly of the tanks or expansion of the core mass. The fitting caps 21, 22, 23, and the sealing cap 24, are now inserted through the openings 26 and 26a in the sidewalls through solder was-hers 27, and into the now aligned ends of their respective tanks to complete the assembly.

The pressure upon the core mass may now be released and it will be seen that the sidewalls now resist the compressive load and prevent expansion of the core. In

abnormal cases where cores are extremely large, supporting struts 35 placed in tension are utilized to reinforce the sidewalls. As shown in FIGURE 1, the struts 35 are formed with heads 36 on their extremities which enter keyhole slots 37 in the sidewalls to provide for ease of assembly and disassembly at the end of the process. The assembled radiator with the sidewalls and tanks serving as their own jigs and carriers are hung from a continuous conveyor C which carries the radiator and completely submerges it in a flux bath F, a draining Zone D for the flux, and thence through an oven operating at approximately 650 F. for a period long enough to melt all of the solder and to permit the solder to penetrate the joints between tubes and header areas and between the tanks, fittings and sidewall assembly. FIGURE 8 shows diagrammatically a blower B which blows heated air transversely of the oven 0 and thus through the core.

During this heating process, the strains on the sidewall connection with the tanks are gradually relieved due both to the slight annealing of the very light copper fins 12 and to the melting of the solder on the tubes 11. Thus, when the radiator emerges from the oven 0 and after it is cooled, it may be removed from the conveyor C in completely finished form, except in cases where the the struts 35 have been included in the assembly and accordingly must be removed. It is anticipated that in some cases the sidewalls may be structurally weak when dictates of automotive rather than radiator engineers must be followed. In such cases, one or more of the struts may be left permanently in the assembly as etfective reinforcing aids.

In reference to sub-assemblies, the method of forming the tanks 13 and 14 is worthy of note as shown in FIG- URES 9 to 13, inclusive, only the tank 13 being discussed here. It will be seen that flat coil material 40 is stamped with the header flanges 150: while the material is in its fiat state. This is done in a press P where the blanks 41 are also notched to define the lugs 30, which lugs serve as spacers and joining means between successive blanks 41. The connected blanks 41 delivered from the press P are then directed through a roll forming machine generally designated at 42 of a conventional type well known in the art where each blank is bent around to its cylindrical configuration and the ends during this process are joined either by a butt braze joint 18 (FIGURE 11) or with an interlocking joint 19 (FIGURE 12). As the now completed tanks emerge from the roll forming machine 42, they are cut olf through the lugs, as indicated at 43, to complete the sub-assembly or by other well known means.

It will be seen from the foregoing that there is provided a radiator including its fittings and sidewalls which has been subjected but once to solder-melting temperatures and to the accompanying expansion and contraction stresses, to the end that a more rigid and leak-proof structure is provided than in the prior art where repeated reheatingshave long been recognized as a major cause of structural weaknesses. It will be understood that the precise geometrical ttorms of the tanks and sidewall of the invention herein described may be widely varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof except as stated in the following claims.

We claim:

1. The method of assembling a radiator including a cellular-tubular core, tanks at each end of said core, sidewalls adapted to engage the sides of the core, cap elements for the ends of the tanks and applicable through the sidewalls, and solder means at all interlocking and contacting points; wherein the core is first racked up upon one sidewall, succeeded by applying the second sidewall to the core and applying pressure thereto to compress the core to proper dimensions, then forcing the tanks on the ends of the tubes, applying the caps through the sidewalls and into the ends of the tanks to lock the assembly in one dimension, then locking the sidewalls in fixed parallel spacing against decompression of the core mass, so that pressure on the core mass may be removed, and finally conveying the radiator as a physically self-supporting unit through fiuxing and baking operations to integrate the same.

2. The method of assembling a radiator including a cellular-tubular core, tanks at each end of said core, sidewalls adapted to engage the sides of the core, cap elements for the ends of the tanks, and solder means at all interlocking and contacting points; wherein the core is first provided with supporting means, succeeded by applying the sidewalls to the core and applying pressure thereto to compress the core to proper dimensions, then forcing the tanks on the ends of the tubes, applying the caps through the sidewalls and into the ends of the tanks to lock the assembly in one dimension, then locking the sidewalls in fixed parallel spacing against decompression of the core mass, so that pressure on the core mass may be removed, and finally in conveying the radiator as a physically self-supporting unit through fluxing and baking operations to integrate the same.

3. The method of assembling a radiator including a cellular-tubular core, tanks at each end of said core, sidewalls adapted to engage the sides of the core, cap elements for the ends of the tanks, and solder means at all interlocking and contacting points; wherein the core is first racked up upon one sidewall, succeeded by applying the second sidewall to the core and applying pressure thereto to compress the core to proper dimensions between said sidewalls, then forcing the tanks on the ends of the tubes, applying the caps to the ends of the tanks in lock ing engagement with the sidewalls whereby to lock the assembly in one direction, then locking the sidewalls in fixed parallel spacing against decompression of the core mass, so that pressure on the core mass may be removed, and finally in conveying the radiator as a physically self supporting unit through fiuxing and baking operations to integrate the same.

4. The method of assembling a radiator including a cellular-tubular core, tanks at each end of said core, sidewalls adapted to engage the sides of the core,- cap elements for the ends of the tanks, and solder means at all interlocking and contacting points; wherein the core is first racked up upon one sidewall, succeeded by apply ing the second sidewall to the core and applying pressure thereto to compress the core to proper dimensions between said sidewalls, then forcing the tanks on the ends of the tubes, applying the caps through the sidewalls and into the ends of the tanks to lock the assembly in one dimen sion, then locking the sidewalls in fixed parallel spacing against decompression of the core mass, so that pressure on the core mass may be removed, and finally fluxing and baking the unit whereby to integrate the same.

5. The method of assembling a radiator including a cellular-tubular core, tanks at each end of said core, sidewalls adapted to engage the sides of the core, cap elements for the ends of the tanks, and solder means at all interlocking and contacting points; wherein the core is first provided with supporting means, succeeded by applying the sidewalls to the core and applying pressure thereto to compress the core to proper dimensions, then forcing the tanks on the ends of the tubes, applying the caps to the ends of the tanks in locking engagement with the sidewalls whereby to lock the assembly in one direction, then locking the sidewalls in fixed parallel spacing against decompression of the core mass, so that pressure on the core mass may be removed, and finally in conveying the radiator as a physically self-supporting unit through fluxing and baking operations to integrate the same.

6. The method of assembling a radiator including a cellular-tubular core, tanks at each end of said core, sidewalls adapted to engage the sides of the core, cap

elements for the ends of the tanks, and solder means at all interlocking and contacting points; wherein the core is first provided with supporting means, succeeded by applying the sidewalls to the core and applying pressure thereto to compress the core to proper dimensions, then forcing the tanks on the ends of the tubes, applying the caps to the ends of the tanks in locking engagement with the sidewalls whereby to lock the assembly in one direction, then locking the sidewalls in fixed parallel spacing against decompression of the core mass, so that pressure on the core mass may be removed, and finally fluxing and baking the unit whereby to integrate the same.

7. The method of assembling a radiator including a cellular-tubular core, tanks at each end of said core, sidewalls adapted to engage the sides of the core, cap elements for the ends of the tanks, and solder means at all interlocking and contacting points; wherein the core is first provided with supporting means, succeeded by applying the sidewalls to the core and applying pressure thereto to compress the core to proper dimensions, then forcing the tanks on the 'ends of the tubes, applying the caps through the sidewalls and into the ends of the tanks References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,252,211 8/1941 Seemiller 29-1573 X 2,794,243 6/1957 Schweller 29-1573 3,191,418 6/1965 Modine 165-151 X 3,228,461 1/1966 Seekins 165-152 X 3,237,688 3/1966 Huggins 29-1513 X JOHN F. CAMPBELL, Primary Examiner. J. D. HOBART, Assistant Examiner. 

1. THE METHOD OF ASSEMBLING A RADIATOR INCLUDING A CELLULAR-TUBULAR CORE, TANKS AT EACH END OF SAID CORE, SIDEWALLS ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE SIDES OF THE CORE, CAP ELEMENTS FOR THE ENDS OF THE TANKS AND APPLICABLE THROUGH THE SIDEWALLS, AND SOLDER MEANS AT ALL INTERLOCKING AND CONTACTING POINTS; WHEREIN THE CORE IS FIRST RACKED UP UPON ONE SIDEWALL, SUCCEEDED BY APPLYING THE SECOND SIDEWALL TO THE CORE AND APPLYING PRESSURE THERETO TO COMPRESS THE CORE TO PROPER DIMENSIONS, THEN FORCING THE TANKS ON THE ENDS OF THE TUBES, APPLYING THE CAPS THROUGH THE SIDEWALLS AND 